SZA Solidified: A 6 Hour Experience At 'The Ctrl Tour'
It was five months in the making, last week Monday, SZA's 'The Ctrl' tour hit New York City.
I first became a fan of SZA back in 2014 around the time "Babylon" was released. Her TDE intro video also pulled me into her as a talent. Shout out to Top Dawg Entertainment for taking the time to groom SZA and not throw her away when she did not blow up right away. In 2016, she was featured on "Consideration" with Rihanna but for me, it was her late night television debut on Jimmy Kimmel that turned me from a casual SZA fan to a SZA lover. I instantly fell in love with the doll face beauty during that performance; it was SZA's reemergence.
Her debut album, 'Ctrl,' finally was released in June of this year and I said to myself, "I don't care I have to see her perform live." It was about a month later that 'The Ctrl Tour' and its dates were announced. I was anticipating the pre-order and unknowingly to me, the meet-and-greet packages were already available. The price was affordable and being the budget conscious person that I am I was like this was meant to be.
This was July when I purchased my ticket. Lots happened over these past five months so it went by pretty quickly. December arrived and I started to feel the excitement. I already had my 'fit in mind. Oh yes, this was about to be an experience.
So Monday, December 11 finally arrived. I woke up at 6am, prepped for a final's presentation, headed into school for another class and then presented. I jetted out of class to go all the way back home, uptown. I had 20 minutes to get ready to be back on the train, heading downtown. The meet-and-greet was scheduled for 5pm.
5:00pm
I arrived at Irving Plaza with two minutes to spare before the hand struck 5. I thought I was on time, I was actually late. So note to self, arriving on time to any venue is basically arriving late. I was towards the back of the VIP line. Those buggers probably waited outside for hours just to be in front. So I stood on line, outside, keeping myself company in 30 degree weather. At this point the ground sent the cold up through my body as I slightly shivered.
6:00pm
A few minutes after 6, I finally made it inside but wait, there was another line. This line wrapped around and up the venue for 3 stories. I consider myself patient but the constant repeat of songs on my Spotify playlist and the standing had me numb. Almost another hour later I walked into the concert room. I could see a curtain backdrop and a camera flash going off. My energy level started to rise knowing I was getting closer.
7:00pm
Only a few other fans stood in between me and SZA. I started to collect myself: calming my rapid heartbeat and putting away my phone, headphones and taking off my hat. DAMNIT! All that standing with a closed mouth and no water had my mouth tart. How in the hell was I going to chat it up with SZA with a tart mouth? So I swished around some saliva and made sure to direct my breath away from her face.
Finally, it was my turn. I turned the corner and there she was, beautiful as ever, dressed in camouflage. I stand at 5'9" and the boots I wore gave me an extra 1.5 inches. SZA, standing in platform boots, was eye-to-eye with me. The first thing that came out of her mouth was "Awww look at here, you're outfit is so cute." Then me with my awkward ass said, "You have the prettiest speaking voice, it's so light and frothy." She then embraced me, held my shoulders, stared into my eyes for 3 very long seconds and then asked me my name. Following that, she tugged on my hoodie in admiration and said, "you're so beautiful." SZA called me beautiful [longs out tongue]! I was definitely taken aback. We then turned to the camera as our heads connected temple-to-temple and smiled.
That was my experience meeting SZA: so sweet, so pleasant and gad damn, so beautiful. My friend asked me how she smelled but to tell the truth my nose was stuffy from the weather.
8:00pm
I received my merch bag which contained a tour poster and a baseball cap which I will be wearing a lot. I went downstairs to finally relieve my bladder then to fill my insides with a beer and a hot dog. I went back upstairs and spotted a blogger whose blog I have been reading for eight years, from back in The Bahamas; he was super kind. It was a full circle moment.
I walked up to the stage. Unfortunately, I was not as close as I wanted to be. I started saying to myself, "What if I arrived a half hour earlier?" Oh well. Some more time passed and Ravyn Lenae hit the stage as the first opening act. A tiny lil thing she was with a vintage toned voice. She was adorable and entertaining.
9:00pm
Smino was the second opening act and boy oh boy this southern guy put on a good set. When I say he was from the south, he was from thuh sooouth. He was very country and that unique culture showed through his music. He sparked a blunt up on stage and passed it through the crowd. It is always so interesting to see people be so uninhibited in certain spaces.
The curtain went down one last time. We could see the workers setting up the stage for the lady of the night.
10:00pm
At 10pm sharp those acoustic guitar strokes started playing as we started singing the lyrics to "Supermodel." SZA then came out from the right side of the stage as we went wild. She took over vocal duties from the audience as the lights covered her in red.
The songstress went through the majority of 'Ctrl.' I lost it when she started to perform "Drew Barrymore." That song will forever be my shit. She even traveled back to some of her older music. Honestly, I did not know what to expect with SZA's music being midtempo. I do not know what I was concerned about because she put on a show. She was high energy all the way through. Oh yes, I cannot forget, Chance The Rapper made a surprise appearance during "Child's Play." Also, the choir from her recent SNL performances(1|2) were present as well.
The Maplewood-native wrapped up her set with "20 Something" after wishing and singing happy birthday to her lead guitarist. The set ended a few minutes before 11pm. Although only about an hour, it was beyond satisfying.
The Takeaway
My money was well spent and I was glad I got to experience this musical angel. However, this meet-and-greet business... I honestly cannot see myself doing this unless I absolutely adore the artist. The hours of waiting, for 30 seconds of time with the artist is a lot to handle. It was still worth it for SZA plus she put on one hell of a show. You know it was funny I thought to myself, "Her ex boo or someone who doubted her must be here tonight because she really is puttin' on."
GIVE SZA HER GRAMMYS IN 2018.